On February 13, 2017 a notice regarding Bill 3293 of the 114th Congress (the current Congress is 115) started to circulate – again (https://science.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-votes-open-accountable-science). It was originally posted in February, 2016.

It is not known why it has reappeared, but we will try to find out. In any case, HR 3293 was meant to “…ensure that the National Science Foundation (NSF) is open and accountable to the taxpayers about how their hard-earned dollars are spent.” Rep Smith’s examples of what he refers to as ‘questionable grants’ lists five specific awards, of which several were made by programs in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate – the directorate that houses the Biological Anthropology and Archaeology programs. The text of the Scientific Research in the National Interest Act can be found at https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/H.R.3293.pdf

This bill came out of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. It was sent to the Senate, but it did not reach the Senate floor for a vote. Although the press release is now a year old, you might want to review its contents. Rep Smith (R-TX) was, and continues to be, the Chair of this committee.